Ok guy's it official. I started my little 13' x 20' world oh Model RR. I built the Bench work at 50" and I put plywood down and after talking to a few of the modeler's here for my idea of having depth. I then took the plywood off and installed cross brace's and reapply the plywood and then I notice after my wife came down and asked how I was gonna reach the top of the plywood. it was about 54" and I was like heck no. I tore the bench work apart and cut the leg's and rebuilt it to the height I liked. And I also put in the turntables for my two roundhouse. The track plan will be something else. Not sure where to start but I will start somewhere tomorrow. I would like to run 2 main lines and 1 line on the middle leg and have it tie into the other two run's. Phew Thanks Dennis
Great start Dennis. I'll definitely be following your build.
Thank you very much Curt....Dennis
I'll be following along as well. Always fun watching the beginnings of a layout. Lots of pics please!
Dennis,
I'll be following also. One of the very best things about building on a flat table is the ability to easily test your track ideas to make sure everything fits and flows. I do my planning on paper and then make sure what I sketched fits by laying out some old brass sectional track and switches. I use a marker to mark centerlines, etc., then use the markings to install the roadbed, switches and flex track. I also use cardboard mockup structures to see if I need to shift the track to fit the planned structures onto the layout.
Dennis,
I'm on this bandwagon as well. Looking forward to the build.
Tom ;D
Dennis
Looks like your ready to build your empire.
It will be fun to watch it grow.
Jerry
Dennis
Congratulations - you are off to a great start. I will be following your progress.
Thank you John, It's been a royal battle last few years....Dennis
Mark,Jerry B,Tom,Jerry. Thank you all for the kind word's and I'll post lots of Picture's....Dennis
Before you get too much further on your empire, you may want to determine the lighting. Are you going to use the fixtures as they are, add more, or do something different? It's easier to work on the ceiling before anything goes on the layout.
Jeff
Hey Dennis:
This layout looks like its gonna be pretty cool. I will be following along.
Karl
Thank you Karl I hope I can make you guy's proud? Jeff I will be running led recess canister's every 2' double over the layout on each leg. Thanks I forgot about that...Dennis
I'm in too.....looks like you have a lot of work and fun in your future. 8)
Thank you Greg. I'm running the lights tomorrow and I was thinking of putting down 1 inch foam on top of the plywood? I'm not sure? If I don't my track looks like it would be below everything? Dennis
Dennis,
I glued 1" foam on top of my plywood for just that reason. The good: easy to cut or carve away foam to add creeks, rivers, ponds, or just have some terrain below the track level. The bad: foam does not hold track nails well. I glued cork roadbed on top of the foam with latex caulk (do not use latex with silicone added, it will eat the foam) and glued the track to the cork. I used track nails to keep everything in alignment until the caulk dried. The other issue I found is that the foam has a slight taper at the edges of the sheets. I used some light weight spackle ( the kind that turns color) to smooth and level these spots. It worked well for me after working thru these issues. I did use homasote where my yard is located because it will be one level and the homasote holds the spikes much better. HTH
Jerry, That's perfect advice. I was thinking of gluing the foam and as you say use it to my advantage. They sell foam chalking at HD it should work for applying the foam to plywood and whatever build up I need for all the other foam build's. I was told to use glue for track in case I need to remove it in the future. I'm Glad your HTH. I will have lots of questions, Thanks.....Dennis
I use Liquid Nail Projects as it is made for foam. I have found that foam dimensions will vary, so two 1" thick pieces are thicker than a 2" piece. What I have been doing,, is using 5/8" plywood as a base (sitting on 18" Fast Track shelf brackets) and then use 2" thick foam only at my town sites. I cut 1/2" thick foam into 2" wide strips, using a jig saw, and make spline roadbed. Four pieces make 2" roadbed, perfect for my HO branch line. Everything is glued together.
I have found that Glidden Gripper works with foam as a primer and can glue flat sheets together.
Thank you Bob.... I have much to investigate....Dennis
Dennis,
Quick question: how are you handling your layout edges? Is the plywood/foam going over the top of the edges or is the plywood/foam dropped below the edge?
Chip Stevens
Chip, The plywood is over the top even with the edge. I'm not sure if that's right?....Dennis
Here's my technique. I use a grid of 1x4 underframing. The track is on 3/4 inch plywood raised to the appropriate height (4 inches in some areas). Foam is used to bring the "scenery" to the height of the track. This allows 4 inches under the track for rivers, etc. My two yards are homabed over plywood as they are flat. Just another technique to confuse you. ;D
Jeff
Hello Dennis, good luck on your layout project. It looks like you are learning as you go, that's a good thing. You will gets lots of help and advice from the forum members. Have fun. Jeff
Thank's Jeff and Jeff F. I been doing all my light in the ceiling yesterday and today.. Picture's to follow tonight. Dennis
Dennis
I just looked back at the pictures of your benchwork - my recommendation is to decided the level of the landforms all around the perimeter of the layout. You can use foam, wood, plaster etc. Once you know what level you want your facia to be you can add it and cut it to match your landforms. You will want to have access under the layout from the front until you get all of your track work including turnouts and controls installed. If you are using touch controls put in temporary pieces of facia to hold them. As always, my 2 cents.
Ok Guy's I been busy with the lighting Jeff asked about. I cut 19 holes and ran all the wiring and LED Recessed lighting. I went with 1200 Lumens lights instead of the 650 lumes lights I had, Finished ceiling had no power close except the main ceiling light. I Ran power in the wall and ran 3 separate switches for each run of layout. Let me tell you if I ran all on one switch I think it would be to bright while working on the layout? 1200 X 19 = about 22,00 Lumens. but anyway I have to figure where to start. Dennis
Nice job on the lighting.
Thank you Curt for following....Dennis
Dennis
The lighting looks great.
Thank you very much John..... I can't wait until I lay track :) ....Dennis
Quote from: Dennis Bourey on September 29, 2020, 08:06:47 PM
Thank you very much John..... I can't wait until I lay track :) ....Dennis
Take your time and do it right the first time - do you have radius gages to hold the track true until the glue dries. You will need lots of weights. Our buddy Tom uses cans of diet Pepsi for his track laying weights.
Thank you John. I bought quite a few gauges from fast track and weights I bought about 20 and I'll look for Tom's soda can's lol.
Up Date. Last couple of day's I did bench work and did a 2% incline Then I started to run caulking roadbed.
Here's a few more shots today...Dennis
You've made a lot of great progress Dennis.
Thank you very much Curt....Dennis
Hi Guy's made more progress and I'm happy about it. Like John say's it takes time to let things dry and then install the track. More tomorrow thanks for following along....Dennis
Dennis
Great to see track going in! What are you using for a minimum radius on your main line?
John, My main line is 26 and 30 minimum radius one spot will be 22 only. I'm worried though that That when I start to build something the foam is gonna make the track to low. Help!!!! Thanks John....Dennis
I don't understand the problem with the foam. Can you do a picture that shows it? I had a 21.5" radius on my last layout on a 3% grade and I had frequent issues with derailment. It's not a criticism, I'm saying do a lot of testing on it especially if it's on a incline. It was very frustrating.
I look forward to seeing your continued progress.
Curt, I believe it's me. I'm seeing the picture differently then the modelers. I put the track down and if I use foam under the buildings all the track will be below grade of the scenery. No issue's with the radius. Just the track being lower then everything else. Dennis
Dennis,
Not sure if it helps but I covered my plywood with 1" foam and laid the track on top of that. My thought was that the buildings would be at track level for the most part. I also planned to be able to cut into the foam to allow me to have some below grade scenery. I thought about using 2" foam to allow me some deeper waterways or ravines, but I went with the 1". Photo on this link. Lots of my thoughts on using foam, how it holds track nails, etc. throughout the thread. I will be getting back to this once the cold weather arrives.
http://modelersforum.com/index.php?topic=3425.30
Thank you Jerry, I will read that tonight after outside chores...Dennis
Quote from: Dennis Bourey on October 09, 2020, 09:53:54 PM
John, My main line is 26 and 30 minimum radius one spot will be 22 only. I'm worried though that That when I start to build something the foam is gonna make the track to low. Help!!!! Thanks John....Dennis
Dennis
Try to figure out a way to make the 22 radius 26 or more. You will learn to hate it my friend. My 2 cents.
I agree my friend. I need to rethink this. I have a Rivarossi Big Boy and I want to run it on all my leg's. Back to the drawing board. I'm glad I st everything in Elmer's lol. Dennis
On the track height issue. Let's use the turntable and roundhouse for an example you will have to cut out the benchwork in this area and lower by what ever it takes to get the track inside the roundhouse at the same level as the turntable. I wouldn't use foam under the roundhouse . I would mount the base castings for the roundhouse directly to the plywood cutout from your benchwork. You will still have to lower it to get the stickup right. Take a look at the brick roundhouse installation pictures on my S&S RR build thread - that is exactly what I did. A little time with the saber saw and a frame buildup underneath and you are there. Give me a call or send an email if you have questions.
Thank you John, I'm reading it right now. Dennis
New update. I talked to John S and I determined that the 1/2" plywood will be removed where my two roundhouse's will be and replaced with 3/4".
I also tore up all my track and roadbed. And redid it all.
Then I cut out the plywood and did this Future abutment to go around the roundhouse.
Today, I was working on another area of my main line's.
I bought some bridge piers and redid the heights to my spec's and I'll glue them in tomorrow some how..More to come....Dennis
Great progress Dennis.
Dennis
It looks like you are making good progress. I can't wait to hear about a test run with a locomotive.
Thank you Curt and John for checking in and very kind word's...Dennis
Dennis,
You have certainly been busy. I like where you added the curved plywood and increased your radius. It looks like all your track is flowing smoothly. Looking forward to your progress.
Jerry, Thank you for the nice word's. That Curve was the only way to get my 30 radius and now I can build a curved viaduct there.....Dennis
Looking great Dennis. Keen to see your progress from here on!
Thank you sir Rusty....Dennis
That's quite the collection of 1-2-3 blocks :-) I bought 1/2 dozen bricks to use as track weights, they're a lot cheaper :-)
dave
Dave Thanks for the input. I agree with you. They are not cheap, I still ran out and used a million pin's every inch. Still not the same effect. I need to sand more. But it's getting done. Dennis
Cans of soda pop work well also.
Very true Steve. Thanks for stopping by. Dennis
Dennis, ;D
This is coming together nicely. I've always enjoyed the track laying/planning process.
Tom
Dennis nice work the track laying looks great. Following along on this keep up the great work.
Jerry
Tom & Jerry, I went way backward's today..As A dummy I did the track and let it dry for a few day's and this morning looking over things. I FORGOT TO DRILL HOLES FOR ALL MY SWITCHES. So today I tore up about 80% of track in the congested area. And drilled all my holes. Dennis
Pic's after I repaired my track today.....Dennis
Quote from: Dennis Bourey on October 30, 2020, 05:54:17 PM
I FORGOT TO DRILL HOLES FOR ALL MY SWITCHES. So today I tore up about 80% of track in the congested area. And drilled all my holes. Dennis
Dennis,
I hate it when things like this happen. Of course, you understand I've never done anything like that. Oh wait, I think my nose is getting longer. Now, where is my small wood saw? 8) :P
Tom ;D
Good one Tom..... ;D ;D ;D ;D
Update. Today I did some riser's and cut them in and installed some more roadbed and track and cut a hole where my double bridge is going. Tomorrow I like to install more track and hopefully install that bridge.....Dennis
Dennis,
If you looked at my layout thread you know I had to tear up track that had to be relocated because I goofed. I guess what I am saying is, "join the club". I see lots of progress since your "oops", so keep the pics coming.
Looks great. I look forward to seeing the bridge in place permanently.
Thanks Jerry and Curt. It's Official I put my first structure in permanently. My double bridge is in and moving on. Tomorrow more to come....Dennis
Looks outstanding Dennis.
Thank you very much Curt....Dennis
Dennis
Congratulations on your first structure plant. The river scene is going to look great. You do have a nice collection of
1-2-3 blocks - you will never have enough of them. It's starting to look like a Railroad. ;)
Thank you John for everything. I have I think 30 of them lol. If it wasn't for you guy's I still be in the thinking stage.........Dennis
Dennis great bridge. Looking for those trains moving across.
Jerry
"Let's cross that bridge when we come to it"
Well, we're here. And it looks great!
That will be one great looking bridge scene.
Well Guy's I tried to continue with track to the bridge but it moved. I was using acrylic caulking as I read on a trend for foam and it did not hold. The pier's don't seem to come loose yet lol. Now I Must look for something to attach plywood to hydrocal castings and hydrocal castings to plastic bridge foot's....Dennis
Quote from: Dennis Bourey on November 02, 2020, 08:09:21 PM
Now I Must look for something to attach plywood to hydrocal castings and hydrocal castings to plastic bridge foot's....Dennis
Liquid Nails or Polyurethane glue (like Gorilla). I think these could be your best bet for this particular usage!
Hi Guy's, I took 2 weeks off because my wife was sick and I started to work on the layout this weekend. I got the main track done and now it's drying, I cut in a couple of side track's not sure what's going there but something. More to come tomorrow. I hope to wire it up for a test run of my loco's and fix and problem's. Dennis
More pic's
3rd set
Great looking progress Dennis.
Thank you Curt....Dennis
Wonderful stuff, Dennis. I hope you and wife are doing well.
Thanks Craig, My wife just had a setback but she's doing better....Dennis
Dennis,
Looking great. The elevation changes are really add some interest.
Jerry, Thank you for the compliment. I wanted to have less raise but I had to go 3% because of only 12' runs.....Dennis
Hey Dennis great progress really like what your doing.
Jerry
Thank you very much Jerry for the kind word's. Dennis